C3 Report: Volume 3 Issue III (March 2010)

Contents:

• March C3 Lunch Meetings
• Activities or Actions Worth Pursuing (Selected)
• “Being Creatively Legal” Good News Etc. Article for March
• General Interest: Book Read In February
• Information – Assistance Offer
• Contact information

March C3 Lunch Meetings:

Because of travel commitments, the C3 lunches are spread out a little this month. The first one is earlier than usual (next week!):

• 23^rd of March (Tuesday) - Escondido: Marie Callenders; 615 West 13th Avenue - Lunch from 11:30 to 1:00 (Library Room)

• 25^th of March (Thursday) - San Diego: Marie Callenders; 6950 Alvarado Road - Lunch from 11:30 to 1:00 (Library Room)

• South San Diego/Chula Vista Area. If you would like to meet in this area once a month for lunch – let me know.

Activities or Actions Worth Pursuing (Selected)

Local Tea Parties: 16 March - East County Tea Party, go to http://www.eastcountyteaparty.org  for time and place. 27 March - Ramona Tea’d, go to  http://www.ramonatead.com for time, place and topics.

20 March: Turning Point Pregnancy Resource Center Walk for Life. To support this Pregnancy Resource Center through their annual Walk for Life, go to www.tpprcdonor.org

10 April: CWA Regional Conference (San Diego). From 10:00 to 3:00 pm at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel and Marina. For detailed information and registration go to: http://www.cwfa.org/articles/17014/CWA/misc/index.htm

15 April. “Day of Truth” at School. Alliance Defense Fund and Exodus International provide materials to affirm every student’s constitutional right to free speech and to provide an opportunity to have an honest conversation about sexuality – in particular homosexuality. Go to: http://dayoftruth.org for more information

20-21 April; 20-21 July; 21-22 September. Upcoming WallBuilders Congressional Pastors’ Briefings in Washington D.C. For more information go to: http://wallbuilders.com/PBOverview.asp

April: San Diego “Season of Service” & “CityFest” with Luis Palau. Projects to assist local communities with homelessness, hunger, schools, military, and youth, with the festival September 11-12. For information on how to participate go to:  www.sandiegocityfest.com.

7 May National Day of Prayer. For events in the San Diego area, keep checking: www.ndpsandiego.org and work with your pastor or ministry leader to incorporate into your church plans

Now: Register to Vote. Last day to register to vote in the 8 June Primary is 15 days prior to the election. Register if you moved, changed names, or changed political party affiliation. For info go to: http://www.sdcounty.ca.gov/voters/Eng/

Now: “Perry v. Schwarzenegger” trial challenging Prop 8. Continue to pray that God’s perfect design for marriage (one man to one woman) will be upheld and that Judge Walker would rule justly. Donate to support the Prop 8 legal defense team by going to: www.protectmarriage.com

Now: California Human Rights Amendment (CHRA) petition. Signature gathering comtinues for the CHRA to qualify for the November 2010 ballot. If approved, this amendment would grant full legal protection to the unborn child. To support this effort go to:http://www.californiahumanrightsamendment.com/files/admin/chra_new_onlinepetitionpackage.pdf

My Recent Good News Etc. Article (March):

“Being Creatively Legal”

The legal restrictions on what political activities a tax-exempt 501(c)3 church or pastor can do is well known. Even though these limitations are subject to debate – they’re relatively clear: no direct or indirect endorsement or preferred treatment of a candidate or political party. Churches can, however, actively influence existing or pending legislation as long as time and resources don’t comprise more than an insignificant amount of the total ministry of the church. By the way, tax exemption for the “faith” community isn’t new, even Joseph didn’t burden the pagan priests of ancient Egypt (Genesis 47:13-22). What is relatively new are increasingly effective attempts by liberal activists to use legislation and the major media to intimidate churches into silence about anything “political”. Tools of choice include: imposing non-discrimination hiring laws on churches; zoning ordinances to thwart church plants, facilities expansion, even home Bible study groups; legal recourse against church discipline; defining Biblically based teaching on homosexuality as hate speech; and claiming any political interest as a violation of tax exempt status. One thing is clear, the ingenuity and creativity of our adversaries to stifle the practice and proclamation of truth is both impressive and unrelenting.

What I find discouraging, however, isn’t that darkness wants to exterminate light (1 Peter 5:8), but a widespread unwillingness to recognize the growing threat to our very existence, or even the need to train and be trained to do something about it. Is it any wonder the Christian community isn’t enthusiastically developing creative ways to engage the culture and government for the common good, the sake of the gospel, and God’s glory?

A frustrated pastor recently challenged my thinking in this area. He contended that Christians, in particular pastors, are so conservative they’ve become extremely risk adverse. That helps to explain how an unchecked nation has drifted towards socialism, ignored constitutional restraints, become fiscally reckless and morally bankrupt. In effect, society has been transformed and empowered to become a formidable adversary. Is our conservatism and sensitivity to not offend getting in our way? Or, have we bought the secular lie that our faith and God’s truth should hide in the closet and have no role in influencing the world around us? Obviously we don’t fight by using the weapons of this world (e.g. brute power; deception; name-calling; activist judges; ungodly legislation)(2 Cor 10:4-6), but why not use our creativity to find new and compelling ways to influence where we can?

For example. Why don’t we use billboards, TV and non-Christian radio stations to get a clear, direct, moral message out? Why don’t churches rotate visitation teams to our elected officials to both inform and pray with them? Why don’t suburban churches partner with poor urban churches to minister to the politically active homosexual community? Why don’t we legally challenge public schools for removing our Christian heritage from our nation’s history books? Why aren’t parents attending their children’s classes or opting them out of politically correct school proceedings? Why aren’t we legally challenging the libelous hate-speech towards Christians by the major media? Why are pulpits timid in condemning elected officials by name when they support egregious legislation or live openly immoral lives? Where’s the next generation of public leaders being mentored within our churches? Why do we think “outside the box” in personal matters but not in applying a Biblical worldview towards the world?

In case you missed it, I’m advocating a renewed interest in creating and implementing novel approaches to engaging the darkness in a manner suitable for our time. To ensure we don’t run afoul legally, organizations like the Alliance Defense Fund (www.alliancedefensefund.org) or the local Western Center for Law and Policy (www.wclplaw.org) are willing and able to guide our efforts to prevent unnecessary legal exposure. So, what are we waiting for? Will we continue to be told what we can or cannot do, or are we going to get busy emerging as more influencial salt and light “out there”?

General Interest - Book Read In February:

“Catastrophe – How Obama, Congress, and the Special Interests are Transforming…a Slump into a Crash, Freedom into Socialism, and a Disaster into a Catastrophe…and how to Fight Back”: by Dick Morris and Eileen McGann (2009) (312 pages). A bit sensationalist, Morris provides a lot of good, historical, referenced data to support his thesis that socialist ideologues are driving this nation towards a European style Socialism. Topics cover the bank bailout, health care, political tactics, war on terror, and many others. One unnecessary part included details on Christopher Dodd and Charlie Rangel that seemed like personal attacks more than any contribution to the theme of the book. Interesting read for the factual information and tactics used in the high stakes of politics, but other than that, it’s only chum for those already convinced.

Information – Assistance Offer:

Do you have a pastor or ministry leader that’s receptive to establishing a Christian Citizenship (or Salt & Light) Ministry in a legal, Christ-honoring, Biblically balanced way? I’d love to take them to lunch to discuss how to go about it in a reasonable way.

Contact Information:

Frank Kacer

frankkacer@hotmail.com

Executive Director of the Christian Citizenship Council (C3) of San Diego

C3 is a 501(c)3 organization, serving the Christian community since 2004

www.christiancitizenshipcouncil.org

As always, if you wish to be taken off the distribution list, just let me know.

C3 Vision Statement

“The Christian Citizenship Council of San Diego exists to encourage and equip Churches and believers to apply biblical principles to all spheres of the culture around us, and to all of life”

(Matt 5:13-16; 16:18; 22:39; Jer 29:7)

“When the righteous thrive, the people rejoice; when the wicked rule, the people groan”

(Prov 29:2)